Pomegranate Oil's Potential as an Anti-Obesity Ingredient

Abstract

In recent years, pomegranate oil has obtained more attention due to its content of conjugated linolenic acids and possible application in the prevention of many diseases. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the potential ability of pomegranate oil to modulate obesity-related metabolism and immune response using in vitro models. In this regard, pomegranate oil was characterized in terms of fatty acids profile, tocopherols and phytosterols, and antioxidant capacity. After evaluation of the safety profile, pomegranate oil's capacity to modulate obesity-related metabolism was evaluated through adipolysis and adipokines secretion quantification in 3T3-L1 differentiated adipocytes and hepatic lipid accumulation assay in Hep G2 hepatocytes. The immunomodulatory activity was evaluated in Caco-2 cells by quantification of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α. This oil showed high antioxidant capacity and was mainly composed of conjugated fatty acid, namely punicic acid. Its chemical composition was responsible for its capacity to reduce the lipid accumulation in Hep G2 cells and 3T3-L1 differentiated adipocytes. In short, pomegranate oil shows great potential for the development of functional foods and nutraceuticals targeting obesity.

Keywords: conjugated linolenic acids; lipid metabolism; nutraceuticals.

Figure 1

Pomegranate oil cytotoxicity towards the target cells lines at 20, 15, and 10 mg/mL. CT is the negative control (40% of DMSO). The dotted line represents the 30% cytotoxicity limit as defined by the (International Standard Organization (ISO), 2009). Different letters mean significant differences as determined by the one-way ANOVA test (p < 0.05).

Figure 2

Adipolysis results for the different pomegranate oil concentrations tested. Isoproteranol at 10 µM was used as a positive control. Different letters represent significant differences as determined by the one-way ANOVA test (p < 0.05).

Figure 3

Effect of different concentrations of pomegranate oil on adipokines secretion in 3T3-L1 cells. Different letters represent significant differences as determined by the one-way ANOVA test (p < 0.05).

Figure 4

Hepatic lipid accumulation results for the different concentrations of pomegranate oil. Different letters represent significant differences as determined by the one-way ANOVA test (p < 0.05).

Figure 5

Modulation of inflammatory response in Caco-2 cells by pomegranate oil. The left part of all graphs corresponds to the non-stimulated cell’s response, and the right is related to the anti-inflammatory effect. Different letters represent significant differences as determined by the one-way ANOVA test (p < 0.05).